Dysmorphia

The Beginning Of The End

One Year Later:

As soon as she opened her eyes Florence knew she wasn't in her bedroom at home, her bedroom didn't smell like anaesthetic, she opened her eyes slowly, they felt heavy with sleep and unshed tears.

She tried to move her legs and arms as much as she could, whatever medicine they had given her had made her feel groggy, like she wasn't in complete control of her own body. Moving around made her realise that under the blanket she wasn't in her own clothes, someone had put her in a hideous checkered hospital gown with blue and white squares. The realisation that someone had undressed her out of her normal clothes, violating her private space caused panic to rise in her chest.

"My name is Florence Clarke" she whispered to the empty room around her.

"And I absolutely do not have a problem, whatever they say, it's all under control."

Her skin felt like it was crawling with hundreds of insects all intent on taking little pieces out of her and her throat felt hoarse with screams that hadn't been screamed. At the back of her disorientated mind she knew where she was and what had happened, but it was easier to be in a state of denial right now. It was easier to believe that her parents hadn't discarded her from their home because she they didn't know how to fix her.

And then she heard voices, voices outside this strange room that she didn't recognise. She took deep breaths calming herself long enough that she would be able to work out what they were saying.

"Our new admission is in there, everything fairly standard and on the charts. If you read over her report you'll see everything you need there."

"Seems easy enough Mitch, hardly worth all this fuss everyone's been making on the ward"

She worked out that there were two people speaking, one older voice that was gruff and familiar but couldn't be placed and a younger man.

"Careful with her, she might seem small, but the girl can punch hard" came the same elderly voice and she remembered where she had heard his voice. He had been one of the men who had taken her from her home, a doctor dressed completely in white. He hadn't spoken much at the time but a harsh voice like that wasn't easily forgotten.

"They have her on SW until further notice, she'll be due for meds in the next hour which should keep her sedated overnight, so she won't be any trouble, Levi thinks we should keep her on them until she's fully settled you know how it is with these new arrivals."

It was all starting to come back to Florence, being cornered in her room, trying to hide behind the gap in between her drawers and bed but being hauled up, a needle entering her arm and the weight of her parent's betrayal weighing heavily on her heart.

How could they have done this to her?

The guys outside were still talking

"We're keeping her on them throughout the night?" the younger man asked.

She couldn't hear an answer although she strained her ears.

The other guy spoke again "Okay then, she did that to you?"

Florence couldn't help but smile. She hadn't gone down without a fight when they'd come for her, and she was proud of that at least. There wasn't much else to see as a victory about her situation.

There was a loud sigh, "Okay Mitch, see you tomorrow"

So that was the man's name, the one who had taken her, Mitch. She'd kicked him squarely in the face. He and a stern-looking woman had entered her room expecting an easy job, she'd showed them. This victory had been short-lived but at least she could reassure herself that she had done all she could to stop them.

Footsteps started up again, softly padding towards her room, Florence didn't know whether to pretend to be asleep or not. The set of footsteps came ever closer and she waited, barely breathing, tears slipping down her cheeks. There was a jingle of keys and then she heard someone curse under their breath and footsteps in the opposite direction.

When the door to the room finally clicked open, she closed her eyes quickly, she'd rather go for the option of pretending to be asleep than face some ignorant questions from someone who had no idea, absolutely no idea who she was or what she had been through. Instead of trying to understand her and make things better her parents had chosen the easier option for them and tossed her into a clinic.

The guy walked in, she could hear the scribble of pen on paper, he was filling out some kind of form. She could sense his presence moving closer and didn't like that she couldn't see what he was doing. She needed to open her eyes even just for a quick glance. All her senses were on full alert but she certainly wasn't expecting the gasp that she heard, it echoed through her mind like it had been magnified tenfold. It was so shocking to her, that her eyes flew open as if of their own accord.

"Oh god" the man whispered, and he certainly wasn't a stranger.